Evidence of the quarrying that has taken place at L’Etacq

What’s the history of your area? In this latest look through the records, staff at the Jersey Archive look at the north-western corner of the Island

THE story of L’Etacq is deeply affected by its surroundings. Its nutrient-rich côtils and proximity to the sea have seen farming and fishing featuring heavily in its history, And the rocky cliff faces, from which L’Etacq actually gained its name, have proved to be a great source of stone for quarrying.

However, in the 1890s the peaceful rural community was shaken by an unsolved murder which came to be known as the St Ouen’s Murder Case. And there were other tragedies in the area, with the dangerous north-west coast claiming a number of victims through shipwrecks. Overall, the study of L’Etacq is a fascinating insight into a coastal community.

One of the earliest and most famous stories about L’Etacq is the tale of the Lost Manor of La Brecquette, The house was owned by John Wallis and was covered on two sides by a forest of oak trees. Legend has it that in the mid-1300s a hurricane or flood hit L’Etacq and the manor and forests were engulfed and destroyed. It is said that when the tide is very low at St Ouen you can still see black tree stumps – all that remains of the oak trees that once surrounded the manor.

The 1795 Richmond Map shows evidence of dwelling places along Route de L’Etacq, with agricultural fields throughout the area. In the 1850s the district was further improved, with major work taking place on the road to make it more accessible, Evidence of this expansion can still be seen at L’Etacq with walls stamped with dates from the 1850s and 1860s to mark when they were built.

One of the inscriptions on a wall at L’Etacq showing the year in which it was built

The Jersey Archive holds account books showing weekly salaries of people involved in the development of Route de L’Etacq from 1853. With the quarries in the area, there was a ready-made supply of stone in order to work on the road.

Tracing those who were working on the roads by using the census, it becomes clear that some of the residents of L’Etacq were involved in the improvement of the road surface. Many of the inhabitants of the L’Etacq area were registered in the census as general or agricultural labourers, so the opportunity to work on their doorstep was sometimes too good to turn down.

Edouard and Jean Gavey were L’Etacq residents who worked on the road at that time. Similarly, Stephen Garde was another L’Etacq resident who made a living through the work.

Samuel Shepherd, a 56-year-old from England who lived locally, was registered as a stone quarryman in the 1851 census. He worked on the road throughout 1854.

Quarrying could prove a dangerous profession. Looking through old press reports, it is clear that accidents, while not a regular occurrence, were not uncommon. One such took place in January 1887. It is recorded in the almanacs that there was a quarry accident at L’Etacq involving a boy named Lesbirel.

Looking at the hospital admissions, 14-year-old Walter John Lesbirel was admitted on 6 January for a fractured leg. Evidently a serious slip took place and he suffered the injury as a consequence. Interestingly, in the 1901 census, when he was 28, his profession is listed as stonequarryman, so the mishap cannot have put him off the work.

The area at Mont Pinel where John Francis of St Ouen was murdered

L’Etacq may seem like a quiet and sedate area, but there have been some grim occurrences in the past. The Jersey Archive holds some very early crime scene photographs from the mid-1890s of areas at Mont Pinel and L’Etacq, where a murder took place. It became known within the local media as the St Ouen Murder Case.

On the evening of 22 December 1894 John Francis of St Ouen was making his way home to L’Etacq from Pooley’s Hotel at Grève de Lecq. At some point on the journey Francis was attacked with a blunt instrument and was left unconscious. The next morning he was found and was taken back to his family’s cottage, but he never regained consciousness. He died as a result of his injuries on Christmas Eve.

John Francis’s murder was obviously one of the most infamous cases of the time. There was a suggestion in the inquest that he may have been attacked by two or three men who had escaped in a carriage.

The interior of the cottage of the alleged murderer in 1894

On 5 January 1895 Ernest Leonard, a Frenchman, was charged with his murder. He faced trial in the Royal Court. The prosecution alleged that Leonard’s motive for the crime was jealousy – John Francis had been a family friend of the girl to whom Leonard had been engaged. Her parents had forbidden her to marry Leonard and the engagement had been broken off.

Leonard admitted that he was in the area between 2 and 3.40, but was simply picking up flotsam. He admitted that he passed by where Francis was found at 3.30 but did not see him there. After a number of weeks of trial in the Royal Court, the jury at the Criminal Assizes found Leonard not guilty and he was released without charge.

In 1881 Leonard is listed as living at West End, L’Etacq – the site of an unfortunate accident ten years later in 1891. While replacing slates on the roof of the house, plasterer Thomas England slipped and fell 30 or 40 feet head-first. He fractured his skull and was taken to the Hospital unconscious. He was finally released two months later.

England had been extremely fortunate to survive. It was not the first time he had had a close brush with death. The contemporary newspaper reports record that he was also the only survivor of an earlier accident in which four men were drowned by the capsizing of a boat at Grève de Lecq.

The beach is obviously an important part of L’Etacq. For many years it was a prime site for the collection of vraic, and there is still some evidence of markers on the rocks that were used in this practice and the paths followed to cut it.Vraic collecting is, of course, a long tradition in Jersey and vraic was the prime fertiliser for the farmers of the Island.

Sites for drying vraic were highly sought after. The Jersey Archive holds a contract between Jean de Carteret, the Seigneur of Vinchelés de Haut, and Jean Le Cornu from 1710.

It records the lease in perpetuity from the Seigneur to Le Cornu of half a côtil at L’Etacq for the sum of two cabots of wheat and two hens a year. The field was to be used for the drying of vraic.

This practice was used into the late 20th century. Florence Ellen Le Boutillier’s will, which was proved in the 1960s, records the bequest of two pieces of land for the drying of vraic at L’Etacq which she had inherited from her father.

Vraicing was not the only thing that took place on the beach at L’Etacq. In the 19th century horse race meetings used to take place on the sands of L’Etacq. A variety of events took place at the meetings, including one open to horses that had not won a race in the Island and one open to all horses belonging to farmers in Jersey.

Of course, the sea could bring tragedy as well. In 1879 Guernsey cutter The Reindeer was shipwrecked near L’Etacq.

The vessel struck rocks in St Ouen’s Bay and Captain George Joseph Piperell, who just 24, and his four crewmen all died and were washed ashore among the rocks near the lead mines beyond L’Etacq.

Similarly, in December 1881 Captain Cardin, the master of the French sloop Union, suffered a similar fate. A Mr Leonard and a Mr Nicolle went out to the ship in order to help, but when Captain Cardin attempted to swim to the boat he was dragged under when his heavy boots filled with water and he was drowned.

l This article touches on only some of the stories of the people who have lived at L’Etacq. If you would like to find out more about the area, the Jersey Archive will be hosting a talk at 10 am on Saturday 17 April as part of the Appleby-sponsored What’s Your Street’s Story? project.

The Archive is open from 9 am to 1 pm on 17 April to encourage you to come and find out more about the history and people of your area. If you would like to book a place on the talk, call Jersey Archive on 833300.

Evidence of the quarrying that has taken place at L’Etacq